Financials:
Prospective buyers will be looking for several items while they decide to contract.
As a seller you will need to provide: 3 years of P&L (profit and loss). 3 years of tax returns. 12 months of most recent water / sewer bills.
12 months of most recent gas / electric bills. Provide a YTD (year to date) financial statement. Estimated number of washes.
Equipment list and date of installation. Equipment Vendor or distributor of initial install. What distributor or manufacturer is currently servicing the wash. Who cleans the pits and how often?

Building and Property:
Take a walk around your property. Trim trees and shrubs. Put down some fresh bark. Get the grass nice and green.
Look at the building from the street entrance. What do you see? Bent Fascia, dirty building, vacuum islands need painting?
Just as important as the outside of the building the equipment room needs serious cleaning. Keep in mind most of the prospective buyers have never been in an equipment room. The sight of all the hoses, old extra parts, garbage and general dirtiness is enough to make them feel overwhelmed. Just as you would with a home the car wash needs to be cleaned up. Have a friend come to the wash and point out every flaw of any kind they see.
When we see something everyday we lose site of the fine details.

Equipment:
An inspection for the seller is not a bad idea. As an owner / seller you will want to know what will be pointed out to the potential buyer and have the opportunity to fix or correct these items prior to showing the wash to a prospective buyer. Take the time to go through the wash and think as a buyer.
I know of a buyer who was very close to purchasing a property. The inspection was done and nothing large mechanically was found but a lot of small things such as leaks in fittings. If the seller had fixed approx $500 worth of small items the wash would have sold. The buyer saw all of these small items and decided it was too much work.

Equipment Inspection:
We will, for the buyer or seller, have a wash inspection completed on the car wash equipment by request.
This is a visual and functionality inspection. Yes, car wash distributors do inspections. That’s like going to a brake shop and asking if you need new brakes. Not so surprising that the answer is always to replace much more than is really needed. This inspection is done by a third party so there is no question as to its findings. Since the inspection is visual and non-mechanical the wash owner will be asked to open and close several items and asked questions about the washes PM (preventative maintenance) schedule. Comtec Wash Systems, Inc. is a distributor however I have found through many inspections with them they are fair and honest. They are a distributor found in our links guide.

Wash Evaluation:
American Car Wash Brokers will evaluate a wash and provide an opinion as to the estimated wash value.
This is an opinion and only should be taken as so. Competition, existing equipment, and households will be evaluated. The appraisal from the bank will be key to pricing for the sale.